Students

7 Trends for the Future of Work to 2020

Globalization of any job that CAN be globalized

Increasing globalization will move jobs and businesses to look for the best combination of low cost and highly qualified talent, wherever in the world they are located.

After the recession starting in 2009, large American corporations slashed payrolls by a net 500,000 jobs. At the same time these corporations hired 729,000 workers overseas.

By 2020, as wages rise in Asia this process will slow down. However multinational corporations will continue to evaluate the comparative costs and advantage of labor in different countries. They will choose where to locate their staff based on rational economic decision of the best combination of talent levels and labor cost.

Increased outsourcing of high knowledge worker jobs

In the first wave of outsourcing we saw manufacturing jobs move from the rich industrialized west into poorer developing nations.

The next wave of outsourcing will be more complex with knowledge and high skilled jobs being outsourced between nations.

For example, skill shortages in China will force Chinese companies to look at the global talent pool. Some organizations predict a worldwide shortage of skilled college educated workers, of over 38 million people by 2020. This will drive up wages in developing countries and will also drive the globalization of knowledge work.

Automation of everything that can be automated

Two hundred years ago 70% of American workers worked in Agriculture. Today only 1% are still working on farms, representing the elimination of over 98% of jobs on the farm.

The same trends will continue with many other sectors of work. Every job that can be automated with software, will be automated. Every job that can be performed by a robot will be performed by robots.

The year 2020 will not represent the end of this trend but will be well and truly in the middle of the trend. Robots will become increasingly more intelligent, adaptive and flexible at the type of work they can do. Companies that are basing their manufacturing business purely on labor cost advantages will struggle to compete with well-organized automated factories.

Geographic mismatches

A survey showed that despite large unemployment 30% Global companies had positions open for more than six months.

There will be significant mismatches in skills between regions and countries. Workers with the skills that are needed may be in short supply where companies are hiring, and places with large unemployment will not compensate fast enough with job creation.

The solution to these geographic mismatches will come from both migration and an increase in remote work. Rich countries will continue to restrict employment visas which will force companies that are trying to access the global talent pool to hire and work with skilled people remotely.

Employees taking work home and home to work

The boundary between the office and the home will become less distinct with workers often working from home.

Right now, 42% of workers use their smartphone device at home for work purposes. Another side of this trend is that as employees are working harder at home, more employers will allow some flexibility in working hours, and in the ability to telework.

Collaboration software is increasingly adopted by businesses.

For example with Skype growing 48% year on year and already representing ⅓ of international fixed line call volumes. Businesses are increasingly using Skype as a cornerstone of communication when operating virtually.

Over 4 million businesses use Google apps with 40 million active users and the user base continuing to grow rapidly.

GLOBAL KEY TRENDS for 2020

“We look at the present through a rearview mirror. We march backwards into the future.” Marshall McLuhan

To observe trends, it is crucial to understand that they are interlinked and connected to socioeconomic and cultural drivers influencing tomorrow’s government and business success stories.

‘What’s next’ in technology often focuses on the obvious: speed, size and cost – but we seem to forget that people are integral to shaping the future and the sociology of technology. At IQ Overseas Education we have investigated 4 key clusters of digital technology:

Smart – Social – Organic – Wellness.

These are the ‘ones to watch’ – impacting how we will live in the future.

SMART

The global brain: The Internet of Things is already here and, by 2020, over 30 billion devices will be connected. We see ‘deep learning’ inspired by artificial ‘neural networks’ and evolved ‘augmented reality’. This enables huge opportunities in all areas of life: politics, education, media, health, commerce and leisure. The Internet will soon be connected to everything including our brains – enabling fast and accurate decoding of multi-layered information.

As Big Data merges with ‘Social’ content, we see new strategic software and tools to predict behaviors and buying attitudes. Tracking real-time sentiments will enable brands to deliver better experiences. Currently data management and ‘social analytics’ mostly benefits organisations, but soon people will demand a share of their ‘data value’. This ‘Data Mining Boom’ is already influencing media, with the ‘Nate Silver effect’ now inspiring a whole genre of data-driven journalism to predict the future.

SOCIAL

With a global growth of Crowdfunding Platforms are set to explode.

The US leads the trend, but crowdfunding is also flourishing across the Eurozone. We could see a radical change in the funding landscape for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Increasingly, people will want to own a share in the startups they buy from – being respected partners rather than just consumers.

People will migrate for career and life experiences to discover new cultures. The demand for affinity networks and familiar touch points that let us learn and share across conventional borders will grow. To deliver real value and engage with the true needs of the Global Citizen and tomorrow’s talent, agility, convergence and seamless services must be incorporated into each and every offering.

ORGANIC

Mindful consuming informs 21st century business models. Cultural storytelling, authenticity and craftsmanship are in demand as we return to local sourcing and manufacturing. Businesses and individuals will join forces to practice ‘Betterness’, such as radical openness and social responsibility, and make a positive impact for the greater good of all. Agility and scalability is key in this – in order to balance costs, transport and ethics – and it will be enabled by clean tech advances and technologies, such as 3D printing.

The growth of disruptive technologies and dedicated social media MBA programmers is already redefining learning. Education, will result in a major educational transformation. The Codecademy wants to turn tech consumers into empowered code builders and Universities are teaming up with entrepreneurs, technologists and leaders globally to define a road map to guide the evolution of new technologies.

 WELLBEING

Cloud Health: By 2020, chronic diseases will account for almost 75% of all deaths worldwide. Cloud intelligence will evolve as ‘Quantified-Self-apps’, Mobile Diagnostics and Intuitive Bio Feedback become active resources in our daily lives.

Personal digital analysis for balanced health, fitness and diet delivers unique solutions to help us lead better lives. This trend is set to explode as healthcare professionals become involved in designing health management systems and monitoring for prevention rather than just healing.

Challenging the belief that The Good Life is dependent on consumption of stuff, we look elsewhere for new ideals to define a fulfilled life. Businesses now realize that they can achieve success by encouraging employees to adopt a ‘mindful’ approach to work and life in general. It seems inevitable that future economic models will consider data measuring happiness levels.

HOW YOU CAN GET HIRED

Let’s help you land your dream job or desired promotion, and quickly !!.
There is a changing landscape occurring in the recruitment industry, largely due to social media and technology, and the more you understand about emerging hiring trends, the bigger edge you’ll have. Here’s how you can take advantage of prominent trends.

1. Rise of social recruiting

There is now more sophisticated use of social media to actively   engage with potential candidates and determine fit. Recruiters are beginning to use social media in newer ways, including passive recruiting to identify top candidates. This means that you as a job candidate will need to spend more quality and creative time to manage your digital footprint and make your profile searchable across all platforms.

2. Mobile hiring

It is only natural for mobile recruiting to find greater acceptance. Both candidates and recruiters are finding that the power of mobile is allowing them to connect with each other, any time, any place, even on the go.
Your smart phone can be a powerful tool to reach out and communicate with recruiters through traditional phone calls, emails, text messages and social media. Even recruiters are texting potential candidates and both find the process easier and more convenient.

3. Part-time opportunities

Consultants, freelancers and part-time workers unite! In an economy fraught with uncertainty, jobseekers should keep an open mind about freelancing and temporary positions, while working on opportunities to help them find a permanent job role down the road.
Although you may be longing for a full-time position, set yourself up to find a suitable short-term position or projects to help you keep your skills fresh, gain relevant industry experience and generate a healthy cash flow.

4. Importance of the referral

With recruiters being flooded with more and more résumés each day, they simply don’t have time to consider each candidate. To shortlist their ideal fit, many recruiters admit that a majority of their candidates are found through referrals.
That’s why networking is more important than ever. Making connections with industry professionals should become a healthy habit. It’s also important to ask your connections for further referrals as it is a necessary part of today’s job search.

5. Application of keywords

In 2016 more than ever, technology will play a big part in screening applicants, so it’s prudent to customize all communications with the relevant keywords gleaned from the job description or what’s current in your industry.
In other words, make sure you customize each résumé based on the precise needs of the potential employer. While non-customized submissions that do not meet the criteria may get rejected, your customized résumé and online profile will help you stand out and demonstrate why you are the best fit for the role.

6. Demand for industry thought leaders

Not long ago, recruiters would spend 20 to30 seconds to review resumes. Now, according to more than one industry survey, six seconds is the maximum a candidate can hope to get. In other words, you have six seconds to demonstrate how you can be the expert who can solve an employer’s problems. That’s why; it’s often smart to protect yourself as an industry expert, by engaging in online communication about recent trends in your industry. Blogs are another way to attract recruiters. You can post valuable articles and also join online communities, to share valuable inputs and engage with other industry thought leaders.

7. Enriched LinkedIn content

LinkedIn has now become more robust with the capability to link presentations through Slideshare (slideshare.net), project files, videos, portfolios and other useful information. This helps you project a profile that is richer, deeper and more intimate than a résumé by making multimedia presentations, projects and videos more common elements of your LinkedIn profile.

8. Facebook: more than friends

Spend some time surfing the internet to read about the power of Facebook Graph Search and you can understand how to use this incredibly powerful platform in your job search. Today, employers scan Facebook profiles more closely and even a job seeker’s “Likes” on Facebook can provide recruiters with an accurate snapshot of his or her personality. Make sure you adjust your privacy settings correctly, so you can manage the content that you do not wish to share with recruiters.

9. Tweeting  jobs

Twitter continues to emerge as a powerful and easy-to-use tool for jobseekers and employers alike. Practise and perfect your 140-character communication line to reach out to employers and engage in industry observations. Use hash tags to help you get found. Follow important leaders in the companies and fields you are interested in. And don’t miss out on regularly looking up TweetmyJobs — this is where many employers and even other jobseekers tweet links to job.

10. You on YouTube

It’s no surprise why YouTube is becoming a favourite tool for both candidates and recruiters. A video is a great opportunity to tell a compelling story about you to attract top recruiters. Plus, the average user spends 15 minutes a day on the site and this also includes the hiring manager that you are targeting. Many organizations, educational institutions and even the military successfully use YouTube to hire candidates

The changing world of work

New jobs
If you entered the workforce more than 10 years ago, you wouldn’t have considered entering the following occupations because they weren’t around:

• Web developer
• Social media manager
• 3-D animator
• Sustainability manager
• Carbon emissions trader
• Mobile phone applications developer

There is no doubt that the landscape of work has changed during the past 10 years. Globalisation, demographic shifts and technological advances are some factors that have created a highly competitive, rapidly changing work environment.

While we can’t predict what new occupations will be around in the future, we can see what types of industries are most likely to have high demand for workers, and what industries are likely to decline.

Emerging industries

Emerging industries are not always new – sometimes they might have been around for many years but new job opportunities arise within them. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s list of emerging industries includes:

• Biotechnology – especially medical drugs and equipment.
• Food and beverage – our dairy, seafood, and wine industries continue to grow with an insatiable demand from consumers for fresher, tastier products.
• Creative – movie-making is well established and tipped to grow.
• Information technology – our fastest-growing export sector.

Long-standing and high demand industries

These industries have traditionally offered good opportunities, and are expected to continue to employ many people in the future.

• Health – demand for workers will continue to grow because our population is ageing.
• Education – there is steady demand for teaching and training services.
• Social services – again our ageing population will drive demand for social support.
• Personal services – everything from trades, accommodation, cafes and restaurants, transport, communications, properties and business services.
• Agriculture and horticulture – high demand for our dairy, meat, and fruit produc

Changing work patterns

Remember that it isn’t just jobs that are changing; people are also changing their work patterns and perceptions of what a career is growing trends include:

• Increasing part-time employment
• Later entry to the workforce
• Ongoing training and/or retraining
• Less upward promotion, and more horizontal career development
• More self-employment and small businesses
• More emphasis on work-life balance

Changing tactics of employers

As organisations strive to remain competitive, employers are increasingly:

• Contracting staff for specific tasks
• Ensuring workers and the work they do can be switched and/or changed quickly
• Allowing workers to communicate with each other rather than through supervisors and managers
• Giving workers autonomy and giving them the opportunity to take responsibility for the work that they do.

“At the heart of it all, most employers are looking for people with some common skills and characteristics. Businesses – just like the rest of the community – want people who are good citizens. In other words, they want people to be honest, to care about others, and to make a contribution.”

What does international Education mean to you

For me, my “international education” was actually an “international experience.” I believe wholeheartedly that when students go abroad to study they gain a different type of experience along with their educational classes. The classes and credit hours are only a small (but still significant) portion of what a student will learn when they travel.

An international experience is about learning a culture. It’s about learning what that culture represents and getting to know the people behind it. It’s about speaking the language (or at least trying to) even if you’re not extremely confident. It’s also about being humble and being accepting of a different culture – and sometimes even embracing it and loving it by the time you leave. It’s also about realizing that you can leave your heart in different places of the world and fall in love with somewhere that’s thousands of miles from home.

Even though the experience will eventually end, international education doesn’t end there. When a student returns from any study abroad, no matter the length or location, it’s then their duty to share their changed perspectives with their peers and colleagues. If not for international experiences and encounters, our world – would have remained stagnant for generations. Learning is about being able to open the eyes of others with your stories of relationships, new food, new interactions and an overall changed outlook.

Where will you work in 2020

That’s the million-dollar question. In fact, the future of work is one of the hottest trends we read about and are keen in exploring
As futurists our youngsters should track international business and consumer trends by reading and analyzing just about anything they can get their hands on. The goal is to determine what the world might look like five, 10, and 20 years down the line, and by tracking what’s going on today we would be able to forecast what life might look like around the bend.
In fact, research shows that work will look much different in 2020, whether judged by the types of computing devices we use on the job, where we work, or the way we collaborate with our co-workers. Following are some of the trends we see for the future.

1.    For starters, the types of jobs that people hold will change.

Indeed, there will be careers that don’t even exist today—just as there were no “social media strategists” or “mobile app developers” just a few short years ago.
That said, a great many of the jobs that will be held in 2020 are here today—and there’s a simple way to learn what they are by tapping into the wonderful work of government statistics.
IQ Overseas Education have combed through the most recent employment projections for 2010-2020
These long-term projections help educators, counselors, and policymakers plan for the needs of the future workforce. These projections can also offer insight to parents, students, career-changers, and anyone who knows that there’s a pretty solid chance that come 2020 there would be new unknown jobs.

2.    Let’s start with the good news: There will be millions of jobs to be had.

Projections say there will be nearly 55 million job openings during the decade from 2010-2020. About 34 million of these jobs will come from the need to replace workers who retire or leave their job for another job or to return to school, etc., and nearly 21 million will come from new jobs that will be created during the decade.

3.    Business jobs will remain attractive.

There will be some 5.1 million job openings in management, business, and finance through 2020 due to growth and replacement needs. Think of jobs like company executives and managers, operations and HR managers, financial analysts, accountants and auditors, and advertising positions.
Some jobs will grow much faster than the management, business, and finance category’s. This includes market research analysts and marketing specialist’s personal financial advisors social service managers and managers of health services
One real surprise in the data was the fact that the number of meeting, convention, and event planners was projected to rise by nearly 44% by 2020.

4.  Find your future with STEM jobs (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Science and technology will continue to have dramatic impacts on our economy and society in the coming decade—and as we increasingly rely more on complex systems and digital, genetic, and technologies of all types, the prospect for computer, engineering, and science jobs will be strong.
Which occupation in this category will offer the most jobs? Given the importance of information technology in our work and personal lives, it should come as no surprise that it’s software developers and programmers.
Which of the STEM jobs do we see growing the fastest this decade? The number of positions for biomedical engineers will see a jump of 62 percent.

5.    Teach and train the next generation.

There will be some 3.4 million education, training, and library job openings due to growth and replacement through 2020. It will drive the need for teachers and other education-related positions in the next decade and beyond.

6.    Health-and-wellness jobs will boom.

Driven by trends such as the aging of the population and the increasing focus people are putting on health and wellness, there will be 3.6 million job openings for healthcare practitioners and technicians due to growth and replacement through 2020. These occupations include doctors and surgeon’spharmacists’ physical therapists, radiology techs athletic trainers and even veterinarians).
The clear standout opportunity in this area is for registered nurses, which should have the most job growth of all occupations through 2020, with a projected 712,000 new jobs. There will also be some 2 million more jobs in healthcare support careers. These positions require lower levels of education than the practitioner and technician careers and include jobs like orderlies in hospitals and physical therapy assistants. Of these healthcare support careers, the fastest growing will be for home health aides. This is evidence of the deep desire of the Human race to “age in place” and remain independent and at home as long as possible.

What does all of this information mean for your future?

The analysis above is just a quick overview of some of the occupations that should yield solid opportunities for students, young professionals, and career-changers in coming years.
If you’re a parent, projections like this can help you as you guide your children to think about their education and their future. Let them explore, try lots of things, but seed your conversations with them with projections like these, and bring a dose of reality to the discussion by showing them which occupations will be abundant and which may be more difficult to break into.
If their passion is in a sector or occupation that isn’t expected to see rapid job growth in the next decade, that’s okay. Encourage them to pursue their goals, but with data like this they can do it from a more informed perspective. For example, a teen interested in healthcare who is strong in the sciences will benefit from knowing that there are going to be roughly 35 times as many job openings for registered nurses as for veterinarians through 2020.
Encourage them to be a vet if that’s what they really want, and armed with this kind of data they’ll know the kind of competition they’re up against, which can be a strong motivator and spur them on to achieve this goal.

What are other ways this information will be useful for yourself and your kids?

• Look for occupations that are going to add a lot of jobs in terms of raw numbers. This ensures you’re focused on big targets.
• Look for areas that have high growth-rates. Focusing in on these fast-growing industries and occupations can help future-proof your (or your kid’s) career and keep it in step with the changing 21st century economy.
• Triangulate. Look at the raw numbers and growth rates, but don’t forget the personal angle. If you’re thinking of a career change, where does your passion lie … and what do you enjoy doing? Use the data to help guide and explore, but don’t force yourself (or your kids) into a career just because there are a lot of jobs to be had.